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A Heavy Metal Exploration of Baked Goods

scones

Here in Oregon, Strawberry season is upon us. This is a special time of year and what better way to celebrate the arrival of the great strawberry than to make scones with strawberry jam! Not just any scone, mind you, but ones that taste so good, your friends will want to keep you in the kitchen making these awesome treats every morning.

And yes, they don’t take very long at all. Between getting your ingredients organized and actual baking time, you are looking at around 40 minutes. Perfect for a nice relaxing morning.

The “King of the Dead” album by Cirith Ungol (listen to it here) works well with this recipe. The perfect album length for the process, how can you resist classic tracks such as, “Atom Smasher”, “Finger of Scorn” or the title track itself?? Simple answer: bang your head and bake some scones.

Tools:
Baking pan (greased up…I use butter to make a nice thin layer to prevent too much sticking)
Large bowl
Small bowl
Spatula
Whisk
Large knife

First things first, place a rack in the middle of your oven and turn it to 350ºF.

In the large bowl, thoroughly mix all of your dry ingredients together. Once you have done this, take the stick of butter and on a cutting board, cut it into 1/2 inch squares. Take these little cubes and toss them into the dry mix. With your hands, work them into the mix. You’ll want to smash up the cubes and flatten them so that the mix now resembles crumbs. This will take about five or so minutes.

Once done with this, wash your hands, grab the small bowl, and then whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Scrape this wet mixture into the dry and with the spatula, mix well until combined.

You should now have a sticky dough. Flour your kneading area, take the dough and divide it evenly in half, and then proceed to make a large disk with one piece of the dough. It should be roughly 8 or so inches in diameter and around a 1/2 inch thick. Do this with the other piece.

Grab your Strawberry jam and spread it evenly on one of the discs. Once you have your spread all done, carefully take the other disc and place it on top of the jammed disc. If you did it right, they should be the same size and fit well together. Take your melted butter and drizzle it evenly on top. Sprinkle the sugar all over and then grab your knife and make them into eight equal pieces (like cutting a pizza or pie).

Carefully place them on the baking pan and then pop them in the oven for 11 minutes. Once your time goes off, rotate the tray and then bake them for another 11 minutes or until they are golden brown on top and the jam has spilled over.

These are best eaten fresh or later in the day. But I doubt they could last for more than a day in any household.

Adapted from, “Good to the Grain: Baking With Whole-Grain Flours” by Kim Boyce. A great book that has lots of wonderful recipes!

“The sword descends the blood shall fall like rainIts rising tide will cleanse your world of painHis grip will rob the living of their breathFor as he ruled in life he rules in death” –Cirtith Ungol